Falconry Displays

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Its been a little while since I have written a blog. Through the winter months I have pottered along concentrating on the aviary refurbishment programme that I had set myself while at the same time keeping our birds of prey fit and ready for anything that came along. This tends to be small group work for corporate hospitality providers or displays for guests at Country Hotels.

Then Spring arrives and rather like the natural cycle of nature we are awakened by the season proper with the start of the shows. This means getting out our static display equipment which we use for events so allowing the birds to sit out comfortably in the show environment. For the old campaigners there is no real adjustment as they know the set up well and tend to sit relaxed and confident. With younger less experienced birds this is more challenging and they need to be properly prepared.

In an earlier blog I talked about one of my old falcons ‘Peggy’ - I hope with great affection as that is the feeling I have for her. But her contribution was part of a trio of birds including ‘Waqar’ a Lugger Falcon who is sadly no longer with us and ‘Duke’ a male Lanner Falcon or Lanneret as they are known. He is 22 years old and is retired – amazing to think of a falcon as retired!

His contribution over the years cannot be over estimated as he was really just about the perfect falcon – a great flier, very versatile and incredibly tame- the prefect combination -  he graced many an event over the years. I will come back to ‘Duke’ again possibly in the sleepy depths of next winter but as the new season is here I must look forward with the new falcons and other birds of prey that we have. 

So for this season our falconry displays will be graced with three new birds. Firstly ‘Slick’ who is a male Peregrine Falcon – technically he is a hybrid as one of his grandparents was a Saker Falcon. This will be his first full season and he has all the makings of a great falcon as he is fast with that peregrine ability to stoop vertically which is so exciting. But as an aviator he still has a lot to learn – he has plenty of power but does not quite know how to use it particularly when it is windy. We are working on this at home during his daily exercise and he will ‘all been well’ accompany us to many shows this summer.

‘Jazz’ is our second newcomer and she is an ‘American Kestrel’ often known over there as the american sparrowhawk. They are North America’s most numerous bird of prey. They are fairly similar to our European Kestrel although a lot smaller but equally as handsome – in fact they are both members of the falcon family.

‘Jazz’ was captive bred in 2009 and so is a complete novice. She will fly like other falcons but on a much smaller scale and her diminutive size makes her training particularly difficult and  really underlines why kestrels are no longer considered to be beginners birds – they are just too small. She is flying well at home and has already been out on static display at an event where she was greeted with a sense of wonderment that anything so small could be a bird of prey! But I am hopeful that she will soon be part of the flying team.

The final bird in our trio is ‘Arizona’ a male Harris Hawk homebred in 2008. My other Harris hawk ‘Red’  is twenty years old and has been a wonderful bird – and continues to be so – but ‘Arizona’ I think in time will get there. He flies so well but the versatility and experience that ‘Red’ has cannot be gained over night so ‘Arizona’ is a kind of apprentice. But he will be out and about this summer taking part in our falconry displays but I will choose the events carefully for him.

So its not a case of ‘out with the old in with the new’ but a gradual changing of guard where we appreciate all that the older birds have given while at the same time looking forward to what the younger birds may offer.

We are in the process of refurbishing our mews – actually a mixture of weatherings and free lofting aviaries where our birds of prey are housed. They are open sided structures or at least have open windows with vertical slants – either way the weather gets in and your once new structures sadly age to a point when they need to repaired and upgraded.

Well we are at that point now and like the aviaries I am afraid we humans also age! along with our falcons and other birds of prey.

I think I was quite lucky when I first started on my own in late  1986 as a freelance falconer because the initial birds I bought proved to be amazingly good! Birds of prey were more difficult to get hold of in those days as the captive breeding program – which is now so well established – was very much in its infancy. So instead of buying an untrained falcon or other bird of prey which is what falconers prefer sometimes one had no option but to take a chance on a bird that had often been partially trained by someone else.

Well my first falcon ‘Peggy’ was like this - a hybrid lanner-lugger falcon – and probably of her type one of the finest fliers I have ever seen. Back then when the summers were good! she would ascend to great heights above many a show ground on warm thermals  – often disappearing from view or ’specking it’ as it is sometimes described. There would inevitably come a moment  when the audience  would stop believing! convinced  they have seen the last of her and to be honest similiar thoughts would also occur to me! such is the knife edge we live on. But just when all appeared to be lost and with my commentary at the point of exhaustion she would reappear in a back breaking stoop and bring the house down!

So she was a real character and when it was windy – conditions being different – she would still fly well with pace and determination using the wind like the consumate professional – which of course she was.

Peggy is 24 years old now! and her powers of superlative flight are sadly much diminished.  It is now many seasons since she has wowed the crowds at our falconry and bird of prey displays – in fact I continued to fly her just for pleasure until about a year ago when with her stamina very much on the wane I decided to retire her.

Although we have a new generation of birds of prey that many guests and audience members will see flying over the season our falconry displays still contain birds that we have had for many years – their experience and versatility being such a great asset but behind the headlines when the audience have gone home so is their companionship.

Over the years we have always tried to combine the world of birds of prey into our displays in an attempt to promote conservation – in fact a lot of displays have moved away from the theme of falconry towards birds of prey education – either way one always attempts to make the displays fun, interactive where possible so making them accessible to guests and audiences in general.

This week I had a double reminder of the cultural and historical importance of falconry and the value which people attach to it.

I was helping a falconry friend with his bird – a harris hawk – he was telling me that he felt it was so important that we should not lose the skills of falconry – that have been handed down from generation to generation – to the modern world. 

I have the same feeling about falconry but the reality is that falconry is probably stronger and more popular now than it has been since the days of ‘Camelot’! Although I joke about ‘Camelot’  there is this perception that falconry was common place in bygone days – the Middle Ages and before – that everybody flew hawks and falcons.

We will never  quite know how true this picture is  but suffice to say that using  goshawks – or the ‘cooks bird’ as it was known was a bona fide way of putting fresh meat onto the table and with  peregrine falcons - or the  ’falcon gentle’ as she was known – a form of high sport for those of leisure. The supporting cast of merlins and sparrowhawks added to the picture. Our literature notably that of the ‘Bard’ is rich in falconry references, terms and analogies.

So falconry today with the development and success of the captive breeding programme coupled with increased leisure time has brought about the renaissance of the sport.

But I liked the sentiment of what my friend had said and found it cropped up again later in the week when I was working professionally for a client entertaining guests from an international company with representatives coming from all over the world to meet in London. Although we had encountered this many times it just seemed poignant that guests had a sense of falconry in their own country and of course in ours too – something that  people of different cultures have admired together - talked about in their own literature and expressed in art.

One had the feeling that if  falconry were a still water it would run deep.

Well 2010 is upon us and Happy New Year to all.

Typically the Christmas period has been quite busy for us with seasonal displays notably at Thornbury Castle Hotel in South Gloucestershire. This amazing place is steeped in history – Henry VIII and Ann Boleyn once walked the grounds and slept in the Castle – and of course there is no better place for a falconry display!

In fact we have been providing displays at the Castle for twenty years and the Christmas display has become something of a tradition.

The birds of prey flew well and the display was well received and so we were happy. Of course I love my falcons – they are superlative – but the Eagle Owl and Harris Hawk are always popular with guests as they can handle and fly them. Also popular is the American Sparrowhawk – really a falcon like our own Common Kestrel but smaller - ’Jazz’  as we call her is high on the cute factor and guests always are amazed to hear they are successful and potent predators.

Well we are looking  ahead at 2010 now – we have some bookings which we have carried through from last year but of course we always look forward to attending new events and meeting new people.